Which Binocular Accessories Really Make Outdoors Even More Enjoyable?

We've found some binocular accessories can really make outdoors even more enjoyable than it is without them. Just like binoculars themselves make the outdoors much more interesting and enjoyable than someone who hasn't used them might imagine.

Some accessories, such as a lens cleaning pen, might be considered tools to help maintain and extend a binocular's useful life. Using a good quality lens cleaning pen will go a long way toward keeping the coatings on both your ocular and objective lenses from getting scratched. A good one will also quickly and easily clean your lenses and restore a clear view.

Others, such as binocular harnesses, address both comfort and utility. The comfort comes from having your binocular's weight shifted from your neck to your shoulders and upper body. The utility comes from keeping the binoculars snug to your body, but just as accessible as with a neck strap. With the harness they're not swinging into trees or getting in the way when you want to tie a shoe or boot lace.

Another binocular accessory, the tripod adapter, is something we quite frankly wouldn't want to be without! Why is that, you ask? With good quality of binoculars that are presently available, the amount of additional discernible detail that a steady tripod allows us to see is incredible. Yes, you'll see a difference with the advances in anti-reflective lens coatings and reflective prism coatings, but you'll see even more details with a good binocular on a tripod. If your instrument has extra-low dispersion (ED or HD) objective lenses, you may see even more. It's well worth the relatively small cost of the tripod adapter to be able to see details you might not see without a spotting scope otherwise!

Yes, it would be interesting to go on for a bit longer, but take a look at the item below. We're providing an article about each one of them to help use them, know which ones are better buys, and when it's safe to just go with the cheapest.

Binocular Eye Shields - Do they really work?
We stopped by the Field Optics Research booth at the 2012 Shot Show and they had an eye shield for binoculars to block side light. We'll tell you what we found when we tried them!

Binocular Harnesses — What's a Good One?
Do binocular harnesses need to be expensive to be good? They have been steadily gaining in popularity for several years and there's no sign that the trend is going to stop any time soon.

Binocular Tripod Adapter that is Easy to Use.
Which binocular tripod adapter is easiest to use? For such a relatively simple, low-tech device, a person might think that they're all pretty much the same. What we've found, however, is that some are easier to work with than others. The design of some, for instance, makes them work well with Porro prism binoculars and not so well with roof prism binoculars.

Lens Cleaning Pens - Which is best?
The lens cleaning pens have become a must-have tool for binocular users and photographers around the world. Is there a best one? What about imitations damaging your lenses?